PotashCorp And Free The Children Partner To Bring New Focus To Global Food Security - We Day Coming To Saskatchewan In 2013

SASKATOON, Sept. 5, 2012 /CNW/ - Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc. (PotashCorp) and Free The Children, a leading international development organization, have announced a multi-year partnership to help address international food security and encourage youth in Saskatchewan and across Canada to take on this challenge locally and globally. Bill Doyle, President and Chief Executive Officer of PotashCorp, made the announcement with Free The Children co-founder Craig Kielburger at a Saskatoon high school.

The partnership includes the introduction of an Agriculture and Food Security pillar to Free The Children's long-term and sustainable Adopt a Village program, which helps lift rural communities in developing countries out of poverty through long term sustainable infrastructure and programming. PotashCorp is the Founding Partner of Free The Children's fifth Adopt a Village pillar, which joins the program's four existing pillars of Education, Health, Clean Water and Sanitation and Alternative Income and Livelihood. The Agriculture and Food Security pillar will be added to programming in all eight of Free The Children's Adopt a Village countries: India, Nicaragua, Sierra Leone, Ecuador, Kenya, Haiti, Ghana and rural China.

"As the world grows from seven billion people today to an estimated nine billion by 2050, food security will continue to be a pressing issue," said Doyle. "This partnership combines our agricultural expertise with Free The Children's successful development model to help bring the issue of food security to light and ensure that communities in need have the knowledge, resources and tools to farm optimally."

"The majority of families within our communities are subsistence farmers. Over the years, we've witnessed changing weather patterns and desertification, leading to production issues and higher food prices in many of our communities. Despite interventions, malnutrition and food security persist as challenges across all of our countries of operation," said Craig Kielburger, Free The Children co-founder.

"Thanks to our partnership with PotashCorp, thousands of people in our communities will receive training, education and resources on farming practices and pasture development, helping enhance food security in these regions."